Ebikes were made for hot weather!

It doesn't happen often in Scotland but just occasionally we get treated to some hot weather, it never lasts very long so we relish it all the more when it's here! This week it hit us, not as hot as further south but hot enough to make you think twice about long hard climbs on the bike.....unless you've got e-assist! So off up Black Hill I went to take in the views that are superb on a beautiful warm, sunny day and not have to spend most of the time wiping sweat from my eyes!

Glencorse reservoir looking good in the June sunshine

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The descent from the Red Road was dry and fast, it's usually wet, greasy and tricky!

It's even faster when you reach a gate at the same time as a couple of hill walkers and they open it for you to speed through!

By Saturday the heatwave was on its way south again but Clive and I still managed a good ride in the Pentland Hills with the obligatory photo stop at the viewpoint down to the Howe and Loganlea reservoir.

Hopefully the hot days aren't over for us just yet, I really like the fact that the ebike gives so much more challenging climbing in the heat without the need for frequent stops to recover. Off on holiday this next week to hotter a climate than I'm used to and as it's unlikely I'll be able to hire an ebike I'll have a week of rest!

How not to lift a heavy ebike over a fence and Barrie meets a top dog at Glentress...

Out with Dougie on Wednesday night and got into a right mess trying to lift my ebike over a fence. First mistake was getting a pedal tangled with the top wire, second mistake was not noticing Dougie taking photographs of my dilemma!

The upshot was the bike ended up upside down on the other side and me subjected to much ridicule when Dougie posted the pictures on Facebook, apparently roadies take a very dim view of a bike being turned upside down!!

This morning, Sunday,Barrie and I did a Glentress/Gypsy Glen loop and met up with a guy and his dog up at the mast . Daisy the dog took quite a shine to Barrie and for a minute I thought he was going to offer to swap his bike for her!

With about two miles to go on Gypsy Glen you're rewarded with a terrific view looking down over Peebles, a great way to finish a hard mornings bike ride.

Heavy rain and thunder storms forecast for tomorrow but warmer drier weather from Tuesday on, let's hope it works out that way!

Keeping the ebike out of deep water and trying to get as many miles and climbing in as possible in one trip

It was still looking a bit dodgy for the ebike on Friday after the heavy rain we'd had throughout the week so it seemed a good idea not to risk trying to cycle through the river crossing especially as I couldn't really make out if any big stones had been washed down and I didn't fancy a cold bath.

Saturday morning and a 6.30am start from Peebles arriving up at the top of the Glentress Black at 7.50am, time for a quick gulp of juice and off down the descent to Innerleithen for the XC route there.

9.45am and we've arrived at the top of Minch Moor the highest point of Innerleithen XC track and time for a photo and another gulp of juice to see us on our way

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A photo of a stone in the cairn at the top of Minch Moor commemorates someones friend who obviously enjoyed his mountain biking but has sadly passed away, a really great way to be remembered

The final leg of Saturdays' trip and we crossed the River Tweed  near Cardrona on the way back to Peebles. We arrived back at the car with 34 miles travelled, over 3500 feet of climbing and still 2 bars left on the ebikes display. 

A great days biking even if we were a tád mucky from the wet tracks!

Sometimes the water's just too deep for an ebike

I've cycled through this water crossing more times than I care to remember but on Wednesday night there was no way was I going to attempt to pedal an ebike through about 2 feet of fast flowing water over rocks I couldn't see!

After a week of sometimes torrential rain this normally quiet dribbly waterfall actually looked quite impressive and well worthy of a picture!

A blatant disregard for health and safety regulations but it was the only way I could get close enough to the waterfall to get a decent photo!

Friday morning was actually dry so I took the opportunity to try a route I'd been thinking about for some time. Up the Kirk Road track in the Pentlands then turn right up the summit of Carnethy, a steep climb which none of us has ever managed to clean on the acoustics. The look on this couples faces when I appeared up the rocky approach to the top was something else!

I managed just over my 100 miles target this week even though the weather was pretty hellish at times, but the beauty of the ebike is you can cram in a lot of miles in a short time unlike a normal bike, maybe we'll enjoy better conditions next week, you never know in Scotland!

Flat pedals with spikes can be lethal if you're not careful!

The gash on the shin is the result of not paying enough attention to the trail I was riding on. The front wheel hit a large stone, stopped dead and my foot came off the pedal which then proceeded to rip the front of my shin with the grip spikes. Memo to self..... pay more attention to what lies ahead!

After a week of almost constant rain the trails at Glentress were wet and muddy in parts with the result that our backsides were coated in mud by the time we finished.

Barrie hit on the novel idea of sliding down a grassy banking to clean his shorts, much to the amusement of some bystanders!

The result was a cleaner backside than he had before but I'd be very doubtful if this is a trend that will catch on, maybe we'd just be better fitting the back mudguards on a day like today.

This is my own invention which doesn't really protect my back from mud but does protect some of the bikes' components at least' and it was made from a redundant old back mudguard so it didn't cost anything!

A trip up the Pentlands on one of the few dry periods early in the week' it's now fun with the ebike to go up trails which previously I only did downhill, it's a whole new ball game with an ebike!